Travel¶
Online Booking Tool¶
EQAR works with a travel agency, FCm Travel, that provides an on-line booking tool, named SEEQA. SEEQA is to be used for flight/train bookings, to EQAR meetings or any external meetings where EQAR covers your costs. Kindly contact FCm Travel by phone or email if your travel cannot be booked through the tool.
Advantages
When booking through FCm there is no need to advance your travel costs, as EQAR will be invoiced directly. In case of unforeseen travel problems you will be able to access a 24H helpline (see below).
How to use SEEQA¶
The on-line booking tool is intuitive and resembles a typical public travel booking site that you could find on the internet. In case of questions, please refer to the key steps below or the Video tutorials, the FAQs or the User Guides provided by FCm in the Training library.
To start
Go to https://hub.fcm.travel/EQARBE
Login
Fill in your username (your email) and then click on "forgot your password". You will receive an email to reset your password. If the system does not recognise you, please ask the EQAR Secretariat to add you to the system as a new traveller.
Profile update
Please check your travel profile/personal data (i.e. name, birth date and gender) section after logging in, to see if the existing data are correct. You may also fill in additional profile information under the other headings: contact info, preferences (isle seat or window seat), membership numbers (frequent flyer cards) and passport/ visa. Once you have reviewed and saved your profile data, you can start booking your trip.
Book your trip¶
To start booking, please click on one of the green icons, which appear under the Welcome message and “my booking tools”.
Filter options
When you look for a flight you might get a lot of options in the results. You can narrow these down by using the filter window in your search. This can help you find flights at specific times, your preferred airlines or the most suitable airports.
Low cost airlines
These can be booked in exactly the same way as any other air booking. However, they are always instant purchase tickets. Look out for the warnings before you confirm your booking.
Rail
The system has an integration with the rail platform, meaning you can use the same tool for your flights, to book rail. These are mainly Belgian, Dutch, French and German trains. NB: When booking a rail ticket, please note that when you confirm the booking, the ticket is automatically issued. You will receive the electronic rail tickets via mail.
Book: flight/trains
This is to compare travel by air and train (for the shorter distances). It will list both rail and flight options underneath each other, with prices and travel times.
Customer Service¶
In case of questions or problems related to bookings you can reach the FCm Travel customer service at:
| Phone | ||
|---|---|---|
| Travel Team | +32 2 7194828 | fcm.zaventem@be.fcm.travel |
| Emergencies | +49 30 220120408 | |
| Technical Support | +32 2 7194828 | fcm.zaventem@be.fcm.travel |
Reimbursement rules¶
(adopted by the Executive Board on 15 September 2010)
Principles¶
Travel and subsistence costs are reimbursed for all meetings of EQAR’s statutory bodies. Observers on the Register Committee are expected to cover their own travel costs. For General Assembly meetings, members are expected to make arrangements for and cover their own travel and accommodation costs.
Reimbursement is for all costs for all means of travel from the point of origin to the point of destination, and vice versa. This may include visa fees, travel insurance and cancellation costs, where justified.
Reimbursement of travel costs is based on actual costs as, independent of the means of travel (rail, bus, taxi, plane and car). You are kindly requested to use the most economical means of travel.
You are kindly asked to organise your journey so that overnight stays are minimised. If the travel costs are substantially lower when staying one or more extra nights (i.e. outweigh the costs of the extra stay), it is at your discretion which itinerary to choose.
Please hold on to all original receipts (including boarding passes) and hand them in to the Secretariat together with your reimbursement form.
You will always be reimbursed in Euro. In case you use a different currency, the official conversion rate by the European Central Bank (ECB) on the payment date will be applied.
Air travel¶
Flights are reimbursed in economy class.
Exceptionally, for long-haul travel involving any continuous flight of more than five hours, business class can be reimbursed. In this case please consult with the Secretariat before booking.
Rail travel¶
You are requested to travel in second/economy class, unless tickets in another class are cheaper at the time of booking.
Car travel¶
Expenses for private car travel (personal or company cars), where substantiated, will be reimbursed according to European Commission rate, currently EUR 0,22 per km.
Taxis¶
Taxi costs will be reimbursed if they are comparable to other means of travel or justified for late arrival, early departure, excessive luggage or similar reasons.
If several people travel together in one taxi, the person being reimbursed should specify who was travelling with him/her.
Car rental¶
Please ask authorisation beforehand for car rental.
Accommodation¶
The Secretariat normally takes care of all hotel bookings.
If you want to stay in a different hotel than the one designated by EQAR please inform the Secretariat beforehand. You will have to take care of the booking yourself and will be reimbursed afterwards (using the reimbursement form). However, the hotel has to be in the same price range and the reimbursement is limited to the costs of a single room. Any supplement for reserving a double room has to be covered by you.
Meals¶
EQAR normally organises lunches and dinners on the day(s) of the meeting and sometimes also the day before or after the meeting.
Breakfast is normally included in the organised accommodation. If this is not the case, it will be reimbursed afterwards.
Meals during travel and other refreshments will be reimbursed, where substantiated and not excessive.
For any questions in relation to reimbursements and applying these rules please contact the Secretariat. Any reimbursements beyond these rules need to be agreed with the Secretariat, whenever possible in advance.